The Lord of the Rice
by junyortrakr
Summary: The capital has fallen, Ukyo is dead, and Kanna is saved. Is this the end, or just the beginning? Chap. 3 Up
1. Prologue

This is set starting from very near the end of the series. I thought it would be interesting to see how things would progress after the initial hard fighting had been done. We now know the surviving characters, and I would like to explore where they went here. Except for a few necessary adjustments to the last few episodes, this will be canon.

As with any of these stories, I own none of _Samurai 7_, so don't sue me.

The Lord of the Rice

Prologue

Shimada Kanbei gazed toward the horizon without really looking. They had won. For the first time in his life, he was on the winning side. After what were, looked at coldly and objectively, relatively small losses, they had not only destroyed a major gang of heavily armed thugs, but had eliminated an entire sitting government at well. The village he had been hired to protect was alive and free. He should be feeling good right now.

If things were so good, though, why was he feeling so melancholy? Names like Gorobei, Heihachi, Kyuuzou, Kikuchiyo came to mind. Why had he gotten to live while they died? Shichirouji would be leaving to return to Yukino soon. With the wealth the village would gain from so many mecha, he'd easily be able to afford the gift she really wanted and marry her soon.

He winced. Kirara was here, too. True, she was certainly still alive, but it was likely to be some time before she recovered from his rejection. He'd known from the time he saved her when she jumped, trusting him to save her that she wanted him as more than a samurai. He'd hoped she'd never have the courage to say anything, but the eve of a desperate battle was a poor time to hide such emotions, and she hadn't. He had, though, and had harshly squelched her in the process. If anyone had asked, he'd done so to protect her. In truth, he'd done so to protect himself. Many years ago, he'd been much like Katsuhirou. He'd been trained to die; he'd not been trained to live.

He looked over at the still fresh mound with a sword sticking from it, a mound soon to be joined by three others. Whatever the farmers thought, the battles weren't over. Although he had been trained to die, he must, however painful it would be, live a little longer.

Notes:

I will be using few Japanese terms, but I will attempt to use Japanese forms of address. I have a little knowledge on the subject, but I'm sure I'll still make mistakes. Please try to bear with such mistakes. Also, some of the common Romanized spellings of character names seem a little unusual, so I may use slightly different spellings in some cases. In any case, I will try to be consistent within the story. If I use any other Japanese words, they'll either be defined in context or given a definition at the end of the chapter in which they first appear.

As with any author, I appreciate reviews, but I don't live for them. Please enjoy the story.


	2. The Battlefield

After the downing of the capital, a great many decisions would have to be made and actions taken. The simple (but definitely not easy) things, such as destroying a group of thugs and eliminating the standing government, have been done. They're now living in a country without a government. If you think that's easy, try asking some ordinary Iraqis how well things are going these days. For some of our characters, they may soon wish for the good ol' days. First, though, we need a report on the battlefield and some initial plans.

As with any of these stories, I own none of _Samurai 7_, so don't sue me.

The Lord of the Rice

The Battlefield

Katsuhirou dismounted his rapid turtle and peered over the edge of the cliff at the still smoldering remains of the former flying citadel. Even though the base of the cliffs was over 150m down, the twisted skeleton of the ship nearly reached the height of the ledge stood on. He shuddered. Even though they had succeeded in stopping the behemoth, it was at a high personal cost. Heihachi-dono, his friend the engineer, had died going down with the engine. He had even accidentally fatally shot Kyuuzou-dono by his own hands while he was trying to protect Kanbei-sensei. Kikuchiyo-dono had died after throwing himself in front of it to save the village, Kanna.

He remounted and rode across the bridge, scanning about to see what he could of the remains of the battle. Fortunately or not, it seemed there was little before he'd gotten out at least half a kilometer. After that, he noticed pieces of various destroyed mecha: some hacked to pieces, some melted to slag, and some seemingly destroyed from within. Massive swords, pieces of battle armor, and synthetic bodies had crashed into fields and forests at random. Just cleaning up the fields for planting next season was going to be a huge task.

He rode on. It wasn't much further to the massive engines from the old citadel, and, though he dreaded the thought, he sought to reclaim Heihachi-dono's body. It would do nothing to bring him back to life, but at least he hoped to give him a proper burial. That is, if he could even find and recover the body.

He later remembered arriving about 9 that morning. Even partially buried in a forest, it still towered 20m over his head. Fortunately, it had plowed in at an angle, pushing up a huge pile of dirt and trees, so access to the top wasn't difficult. With a little effort, he climbed over the edge, and found: no body. Slowly at first, but soon running, he went to where the body should have been. There was plenty of blood, a pile of sliced-up clothes, the katana, but no body. He was furious: who would come and haul off a body, a naked one at that? It just didn't make sense. If he ever found out who did it, though… For the moment, he just tied up all he could find, preparing to haul it off when he left.

Before he left, though, he scouted out the engine. He found a hatch and climbed down, careful to keep his katana ready. True, it had made a very hard landing, but who knows if a stray guard or two might be waiting to ambush him? Once inside, he managed to turn on the lights and look around. To him, the place was boring: row upon row of large fuel cells, whole rooms full of massive machinery, panels with hundreds of angry red lights flashing at random. He found one body, but, on the whole, the place looked in pretty good shape. He shrugged mentally: it _was_ a battleship engine, after all. It appeared there was nothing more to see, so he left, taking Heihachi-dono's few remaining belongings with him.

Once back down, he tied the bundle on his mount and headed for the trail to the base of the cliffs. He wanted to see what he could learn about the main ship body before lunch if he could.

The ride was uneventful, at least if you weren't one of the trees Katsu obliterated on the way. In addition to his katana, he had liberated a 'small' side arm from one of the fallen mecha, and took some target practice along the way. Small for a mecha, though, was a weapon that should have been handled by two or three men. Even though purposefully made light for flying combat units, it still weighed 20kg---empty. The ammo weighed another .2kg apiece, and the permanently attached, chain-feeding ammo box that held 100 rounds was nearly full. Hence, target practice at trees, rocks, anything else that would take away a little of his frustration and lighten the load.

He approached the hulk. Smoke was still curling out of a various openings, but the biggest thing was the incredible, gagging stench. In fact, he couldn't get closer than 25m upwind before he was almost overcome. The verdict was simple: anyone inside was long since dead. The country had no government. True, he had little idea what that really meant, but it couldn't be good. He soon remounted and began a search for Ukyo-sama's body. He didn't plan on recovering it at the moment, but, even as a detested emperor, it still required respect.

Katsu rode to the base of the cliffs to start his search. Although it seemed like the area within which the body could have fallen would be small, the target was, too. He shook his head, feeling a little groggy. "I suppose I should've eaten more for breakfast," he mumbled to himself. Mercifully, he found what he was looking for after only a couple hours of searching, crumpled like an old bundle of rags not far from the base of the cliffs. He made up his mind: he'd dump the gun and take the body with him. As unappealing as that was, the prospect of leaving it there to be torn by animals or stolen by someone else was worse. He shook himself again. "This is pathetic. I feel even more tired than before. Stupid corpse, anyway. I can rest after I get back." He packed quickly, and was off.

Lounging at the entrance to Gisaku-san's house, Kanbei looked up from the work he had studiously appeared to be doing to see Katsuhirou-san ride up with the young emperor's body. Even just standing upright, he felt every aching muscle and minor injury. He was_ never_ going to do that again. He shook his head and refocused on the subject at hand; this was going to be interesting.

A tired Katsu walked the rapid turtle up, dismounted, and bowed slightly as he began to speak to his restored teacher and master. "Sensei. I did a brief check of the area between Kanna and the citadel engine. It appears there is relatively little wreckage, other than the citadel itself, for the first half kilometer. After that, it is abundant in both the fields and the forest. As I expected, most of the mecha are either chopped to pieces or melted to slag, but a few seemed to have exploded internally. The engine appeared to be in relatively good condition, but I have no real knowledge of such things. The hull of the citadel itself was unapproachable; I could not even get closer than 25m upwind because of the horrible fumes it was belching. I can only assume everyone inside is long since dead. I thought it wise to recover the body of the emperor as well."

"What about Heihachi-san?" Kanbei asked. "I thought you said he was on the engine when it went down."

"He was," Katsu answered, growing tense. He moved to retrieve a bundle from the rapid turtle. "All I could find was this: his clothes and his katana. The clothes are all sliced up, and there was blood all over. All I can think of is that someone stole his body, although I have no idea who would want the body of a naked samurai."

"No body?" Shichirougi, now by Kanbei as a crowd gathered, queried. "That's unusual. I wonder if there's more to the story. Did you say that some of the mecha seemed to have exploded internally?"

"Yes," Katsu replied. "I definitely couldn't find it. I didn't expect to see that a few of the mecha had just exploded, either. I mean, I didn't see anything like that while we were fighting."

"You said you couldn't even get close to the citadel hull because of fumes, didn't you?"

"Yes"

Shichirouji looked at Kanbei-san. "Do you think the emperor managed to set off a self-destruct? I can't think of any other reason you couldn't approach the hull, and it would explain the exploded mechs, too. If he did, it's a good thing the engine was already gone, or it probably would have taken all of us and Kanna with it."

"That's what I was thinking," Kanbei replied. "I think one of the secondary self-destruct functions was to release a deadly gas agent. In most cases, the engine will blow, and it will be irrelevant, but it is there just in case. Apparently, it was still functional yesterday. Katsuhirou-san, are you feeling ok?"

"Well, I am feeling a little tired since I tried to look at the ship…"

"Tired?!"

"I doubt it's anything. I didn't eat much…"

Kanbei cut him off with a glance and spun to Shichirouji. "Do you think it that cursed deadly relaxation poison?"

"It sure sounds like it. I would have thought the emperor would have removed it since the ship was full of civilians, but this shows how much he really cared about them. Even though Katsuhirou-san clearly didn't get a full dose, we aren't going to have much time. Many of those mechs from the capital were wielding zankanto swords. If I look, I surely can find one I'm able to fly."

"Go. Take the transport and as many men as you think you'll need, and get back here as soon as possible. I was hoping to have more time to discuss things before we went to meet with the Shikimoribito, but we'll just go with this. I'll have things arranged by the time you return."

Shichirouji scanned the now-gathered villagers. "Work squads B and D: meet me at the transport within 15 minutes. Bring your construction gear as we may have to pull the zankanto out of some wreckage."

The villagers looked a little stunned. "Uh…"

"Don't just stand there! Katsuhirou-san breathed some deadly poison gas from the capital, and we have to move quickly to have a chance to save him. Now, move!"

"Yes, samurai-sama!" the men now quickly answered, turning and running to get there equipment.

Shichirouji turned to Kanbei. "I'll be back as soon as I can, but I doubt it will be less than an hour, possibly a lot longer."

"I'll have things ready for your return," Kanbei answered. He turned back to Katsuhirou.

"I'm sorry. I hadn't remembered that the old battleships had poison gas as a secondary scuttling mechanism, and I wouldn't have thought they would still be active even if I had. Your report was very helpful. You did well to retrieve the emperor's body, too. As treacherous as he was, he was still the emperor, and his body will need to receive a proper burial."

"Thank you, sensei"

Kanbei then turned to Kirara. "Keep him awake. Do whatever you must, but keep him awake. If he falls asleep, he will die. As soon as Shichirouji-san returns, we'll take him to the Shikimoribito and hope they'll meet with us and have some of the antidote."

Kanbei then addressed Gisaku. "Gisaku-san, I was hoping we'd have more time to discuss this, but, with Katsuhirou-san's poisoning, it will have to be quick."

"I understand. Please continue."

"From my observations while fighting yesterday and from Katsuhirou-san's scouting today, it is clear that there will be much work to do before planting season next year. If I remember correctly, a Citadel class battle ship holds a compliment of 324 Crimson Spider class mechanical samurai when fully loaded. I have no reason to believe it was anything but fully loaded before yesterday's battle. They would have used a variety of weapons and armor packages. Because it seems clear that the emperor executed a self-destruct routine, it is safe to say all were destroyed.

The capital itself was destroyed. As you've probably personally noted, the main part of the hull rests in the gorge near the village. Even if we wished to, it is unlikely it would be safe to approach within a month. Because the entire government died there, I would think it will be left nearly untouched as a permanent memorial.

Heihachi-san was able to forcibly detach the main engine compartment from the rest of the capital. Because of this, it is relatively untouched. It contains dozens, possibly hundreds, of large fuel cells and other items of value.

As a result of all this, I suggest we contact the Shikimoribito as soon as possible to make arrangements for removal of unneeded fuel cells. Fuel cells can be very toxic, and we cannot handle them. It is likely that we can sell excess, damaged, and ruined fuel cells to them in exchange for help cleaning up the wreckage, a continual supply of fuel cells in the future, the establishment of a credit account, and a sizeable cash payment. I was hoping we could delay until we had a better picture of the situation, but Katsuhirou's condition requires immediate attention."

Gisaku pondered for a moment. "I see. Would a final arrangement have to be made immediately? I would think that preliminary arrangements could be made when you go now, and, after you have returned, more specific details could be worked out. Are you sure we should be dealing with the Shikimoribito on this?"

"They're the only ones with the ability to deal with the fuel cells. There will be huge quantities of other materials, though, and we very well want to deal with other parties on them. Because they've demonstrated themselves to be our allies and to prevent any unnecessary contamination, I do think they should be immediately contracted to collect the hazardous materials and do all fuel cell work," Kanbei replied.

"That would make sense," Gisaku answered. "What would we do with all the other materials and supplies?"

"As I said, we'd collect them first. I think the old engine compartment would make a very good storage location for the more sensitive, valuable and dangerous items. For example, there will be a large quantity of guns of various kinds. We will certainly keep some of them her for defense purposes, but many will not have an immediate use. It should be very possible to lock them up inside the engine," Kanbei replied.

"That should be good enough for now. Please go to them when you take Katsuhirou-san and make the initial arrangements. By the time they arrive, I can have men scout the area better so we can craft a detailed agreement," Gisaku answered.

Kanbei bowed slightly toward the aged leader. "Thank you for a quick decision. I will see to it as soon as possible."


	3. The Day After

They now are trying to reach help before Katsuhirou dies. There may be some mild swearing in this chapter.

As with any of these stories, I own none of _Samurai 7_, so don't sue me.

The Lord of the Rice

The Day After

After giving those first, brief instructions to the men, Shichirouji grabbed his naginata and headed to the transport. Once there, one of the men had a suggestion.

"Osamurai-sama," a man who name he didn't remember said, "we knocked down a number of those nobuseri from the capitol near the bridge. I think we should be able to find useable zankanto sword there."

"Really? Which side of the bridge?" Shichirouji asked with great interest.

"The south side."

"Excellent. We'll go there as soon as the rest of the men arrive."

Indeed, there were a number of nobuseri carcasses south of the bridge, and, among them, a few of the huge swords. The first one he checked needed some major repairs to be operational. The second one was so buried that is would take a day to dig it out with the equipment they had. The third one had the cockpit totally smashed in. The fourth one seemed to have gotten jammed into some mode or another and was totally out of fuel. He was just about to head to the transport to look somewhere else when one of the men ran up. "What is it?" he asked.

"Osamurai-sama, we found one more in the trees over there. It looks like it's ok, but I really can't tell about these things," the man answered carefully.

"Show me," Shichirouji immediately replied.

Finally: one that showed some promise. After a few minutes, he managed to get into the cockpit. The fuel was nearly full, the controls were in good condition, and, importantly, it didn't look very stuck. He popped his head out of the cockpit. "Everyone stand back. If I can get it freed, I'll take it back near the center of the village, so meet me there. If not, you'll have to help me free it."

Although it wasn't lodged very firmly, it did start out on its side. It took him 10 minutes to get it freed, but it finally flew freely. He took it up for a quick test flight. Even if they were in a hurry, it wouldn't do any good if it crashed half way to the caves.

As Shichirouji went to the transport to get the men, Kirara quickly scanned the crowd for someone to help. She didn't want to take any of the men as they were already going to be overworked. About half way through, she saw Shino. "Shino-chan, I need your help."

Shino looked a little surprised but stepped forward. "Ok, I guess. What do you need?"

"I'm going to need help watching Katsuhirou-sama. It may turn out to be unnecessary, but I don't know how difficult it will be to watch him during the trip there, and, after we make it, I don't know what it will take for while he's recovering. Could you pack enough for at least a week? The caves are cool, so you will probably want some winter clothes to keep warm. Bring your futon, too. I don't think there'll be a problem, but bring enough water for a group of five for a couple days, too. Please get some cooking supplies, too. I don't think we'll need much food, but it doesn't hurt to be sure."

"Kirara-chan, I can prepare all that, but it will take too long to get it all from the house, and I probably can't carry it all, anyway. I might have time if Katsuhirou-sama could take me on the rapid turtle, though. Don't worry; I'll keep him awake and moving."

"Good idea, Shino-chan. Katsuhiro-sama, could you take Shino-chan to get her supplies?" Kirara asked. This looked like it was going to work out well. She was still uncomfortable around Katsuhirou, and Shino was skilled at this kind of work, anyway. While she was able to do the detailed planning and packing for something like this, Shino was very skilled at detailed preparations, cooking, and such. It would be good to have her along in case it turned out to be a more extended time away from Kanna.

"That would be fine. Shino-san, have you ridden on a rapid turtle before?" Katsuhirou asked.

"No. Is it difficult?"

"No. I'll help you on first. After I get on, you can just hang on to me."

As it turned out, Shino needed little help, and the short ride went uneventfully. She did like riding, though, and asked, "Katsuhirou-sama, do you think you could teach me to ride, after we get back, I mean."

"I suppose, although I don't know how useful it'd be."

"I'd just enjoy it. I think it'd be great to be able to ride."

Katsu shrugged. "If there's time, I could. We'll see then."

Shino jumped off as they arrived. She hurried inside, absentmindedly brushing aside her younger siblings. As Katsu walked in, she pointed to the buckets by the door. "Katsuhirou-sama, would you please go to the spring and fill the buckets? I need the water to fill the water bags for the trip."

"Spring?" he asked.

"Ichiro-chan, please show Katsuhirou-sama where the spring is."

"Yes, nee-san," he turned to Katsu, looking excited and trying to act important. "Katsuhirou-sama, the spring is just down this path. Just follow me."

Shino had few clothes, so there wasn't much to pack. Even so, there were a couple things she'd rather not pack in front of Katsuhirou, so she packed them while he was gone. By the time the boys returned, she had finished with her clothes and futon. "Ichiro-chan, have him help you fill the water bags," she said, pointing to the bags laying near the door while smiling apologetically at Katsuhirou.

While the boys were distracted with the water, she looked around in the kitchen for cooking supplies. She grabbed some rice, other basic ingredients, a few spices, the old cooking pot, and some other various items. Surprisingly enough, she was ready by the time the water bags were filled. She pulled the whole mess of things onto her back while Katsu did so with the water bags. "Ichiro-chan, tell momma that I had to help the samurai go to town. I'll probably be gone for at least a week."

"Really? Wow! Can I come too?!" he answered excitedly.

"No, not this time---we don't have time to take anyone else along. Now, what are you going to tell momma?" she asked, sounding very much like the older sister.

"That you went with the samurai to town and that you'll probably be gone for at least a week," he answered somewhat dejectedly.

"Very good," she said. Turning to Katsu, she said, "Ok, let's go."

As they rode, Katsu was impressed: Shino had handled the entire task very well. As the effects of the poison continued to take hold, though, that was about all he was able to think.

Katsu rode up just as Shichirouji flew up with the nearly-intact zankanto. Fortunately, his mount was used to battle noise and didn't buck. With the effects of the poison, his load, and Shino, he doubted he could have handled it if it had.

Kirara ran up, holding shielding her face from the wind whipped up by the zankanto as it landed. "Did you get everything?"

"Yes: three 10 liter bags of water, a cooking pot and supplies, futon with blanket, appropriate clothes…" Shino was answering as her father, Manzo, walked up.

"Excuse me, but this is urgent. Shino, could you come over here so we can talk for a minute?" He said.

Shino stopped, surprised. "Sure. Kirara-chan, could you make sure my things get packed? Thanks,"

After quickly dropping her things, she ran to catch up with her dad. She hadn't expected him to say anything, and she hoped he wouldn't forbid her from going. "What did you want, dad?"

He pulled out a small money pouch. "I talked Kanbei-same into taking one bale of rice. The price you can get should be much better there. I want you to sell it for the best price you can get, and see about arrangements for a bank account and for an account with the rice traders. You'll probably have to sell this bale to the shikimoribito, but we'll want to explore other options as well. If possible, set up an account so that we can sell rice at the rice exchange. I have talked to some of the other farmers, and we should be able to pool our rice so we can get higher prices.

Take this money so you can get some clothes appropriate for dealing with those traders. It will probably take a few extra days to accomplish all this, and that's fine. It would probably be better to wait until Katsuhirou-sama has recovered before you go beyond common areas of town so he can be an escort. I expect the bankers and traders will take you much more seriously if you come with a samurai. You'll need to buy him some new clothes and get him cleaned up before you go there, too. If you can get these preliminary arrangements made, I'll be able to start trading soon after you return.

I'll probably travel to nearby villages to see if they have rice I can help trade, too. I'm planning on going to Yamakawa tomorrow to see if they have any to trade."

Shino just stood there, stunned. Her father wanted her to do what?! "What? Are you sure? I've never done anything like this!"

"Do it. You've always been good at negotiating. I'd go myself, but they can't take that many people. I know you'll get back later than you would otherwise, but it needs to be done."

"I'll do my best," she answered solidly.

"Good. Now, take this money and run: they're ready. Remember, we're counting on you."

Shino waved and ran to the zankanto. Fortunately, it was already fully loaded, so all she had to do was climb on. She was still a little shocked. Her father, a known coward and mediocre farmer, was also by far the best trader in Kanna. That he would trust her with something so major… She shook her head. They had to make it safely to the Shikimoribito before she dealt with any of this, anyway.

The ride was tense. Kanbei spent most of the several hour flight sitting by the large white flag lashed to the side without looking back. Shichirouji flew without making any comments. Kirara sat a little further back than Kanbei, and spent all her energy playing tag team with Shino to keep Katsu somewhat awake and moving. Katsu was in a stupor, his attention moving between Kirara and Shino depending on who was more distracting at any particular moment. Beyond distracting Katsu, Shino was just confused.

Shino had thought that Katsu liked Kirara, but he really wasn't paying any attention to her. To be fair, he wasn't paying attention to anything at the moment, but he'd almost seemed to relax a little when Kirara had sent him with her earlier. She'd thought that Kirara had liked Katsu, but she was fussing over him like an older sister rather than like a girlfriend. Also, she was pointedly avoiding Kanbei. Except, that is, for the more than occasional glances she made his way. Kanbei avoided looking at anyone. Well, that is if one ignored the not infrequent glances at Kirara. Shichirouji just looked amused. All this was going on, and she just couldn't make sense of it. She knew she wasn't Kirara's best friend, and that she wasn't as 'girly' as some others her age, but this was ridiculous. It made her want to pull her hair out. Better yet, she could pull Kirara's hair until she explained things.

Shichirouji flew the zankanto slowly through the entrance to the Shikimoribito caves just before nightfall. Kanbei was careful to wave the white flag prominently. Less than five minutes in, a guard dropped to challenge their progress. Shichirouji immediately pulled the zankanto into hover mode.

The guard did a quick scan of the group. Although he hadn't met any of them, he immediately recognized Shimada Kanbei from photos his dispatcher had passed out. With a little more time, he recognized the other samurai and the water priestess, too. The final one seemed to be a somewhat nervous farm girl, a pretty one at that. He bowed slightly and addressed Kanbei. "Congratulations on your amazing victory over the capital! What brings you here so soon?"

"As he was falling to his death, it appears the emperor executed the command to scuttle all remaining units. Unfortunately, we didn't realize this. One of the backup scuttling mechanisms on the capital was to release a deadly relaxation gas. While he was doing a preliminary scouting of the area this morning, Katsuhirou-dono breathed in a small dose. We were hoping you might be able to help save him," Kanbei said, gesturing towards a barely moving Katsuhirou.

The guard shuddered. "Just a moment. I have to contact someone for instructions." He adjusted his radio to the emergency frequency. "Entrance guard at tunnel 5 here. I have a medical emergency."

An annoyed dispatcher glanced at his assignment chart. Yamashita, it figured. "A medical emergency at the tunnel 5 checkpoint? Yamashita-san, this better be good."

"Shimada Kanbei is here with one of his samurai dying from what he says was relaxation gas fr," Yamashita started.

The dispatcher, now fully alert, cut in. "Kanbei-sama, with a samurai dying of relaxation gas?! Shit!" He found the right point on the map. "Take them to the west entrance of the hospital, the one on tunnel 23. Can you find that?"

"Tunnel 23?"

"Tunnel 23. Take 5 until it intersects with 16. Turn right. Follow 16 until it meets 23. Turn right. Follow that until you get to the hospital on the right. Now, repeat it to me so I know you have it."

"Follow 5 until it intersects with 16. Turn right. Follow 16 until it meets 23. Turn right. Follow that until I get to the hospital on the right."

"Correct. How quickly can you get there?"

"They're flying a zankanto, so I suppose about 10-15 minutes."

"Go with them. Have them fly as fast as is safe. I'll have a medical team waiting when they get there. Move!"

"Yes, sir!" He dropped onto the zankanto. "We're going to go directly to the hospital. The first turn is about 500m ahead, where we'll turn right. I'll give further directions from there. They'll be waiting for us."

Shichirouji responded by accelerating.

Notes

Shichirouji uses a polearm, of which a naginata is one. I'm not especially familiar with all the forms of Japanese polearms, so I'm using a naginata. It is possible it should more accurately be called something else.

Nee-san: a short form of older sister


	4. Recovery, Night 1

They made it to the caves, and Katsuhirou will now begin recovery. Please reference EK's excellent _Intensive Care Unit _and _Tenshi_ for the details and general plotline of Heihachi's recovery. Obviously, some of the specifics of the plotline will be different, esp. for _Tenshi_, but the basic medical situation and the relationship between Honoka and Heihachi is maintained.

As with any of these stories, I own none of _Samurai 7_, so don't sue me.

The Lord of the Rice

Recovery, Night 1

They'd been waiting for about an hour when a doctor dressed in scrubs came out to meet them.

The doctor scanned his clipboard again before beginning. "It looks like he's going to make it: you managed to get him here just in time. Assuming he makes it through tonight, there shouldn't be any problems. Even so, it'll probably be a couple days before he wakes up, and there will be a recovery period. He won't be in any danger at that point, and there shouldn't be any long term side affects, but he won't have any strength at first, and it'll take several days for most of it to return.

As I mentioned, tonight is the most critical time, and we need someone there to provide some kind of stimulation: touching him, speaking to him, etc. He won't consciously realize it, of course, but it should provide just enough to keep him with us."

Kirara answered firmly, "I'll do it."

The doctor looked at her. Unlike the strong-arming it took to convince Honoka to watch the other samurai, it looked like they'd almost have to give this on a sedative to get her to leave before he came around. "Fine. As soon as we're done here, a nurse will come and show you what you need to do. We put him in the same room with the other samurai, and it looks like one person should be able to watch them both after tonight."

"Other samurai?" Kirara asked for them all.

The doctor flipped through a few sheets on his clipboard. "Oh, didn't they tell you? We had a small observation and rescue team in the area, and they found a samurai on the capital engine. It seems he was trapped under a large piece of debris of some kind and bleeding heavily. They immediately rushed him back here, and we did some initial surgery. He still hasn't come around yet, but it looks like he's going to make it, although he'll have a long recovery and some serious disabilities. Mizuki-san is watching him at the moment, and I'm sure she'd enjoy some company."

"Wow! That's great! We had no idea. Katsuhirou-sama will be incredibly relieved! He was really upset after he couldn't find Heihachi-sama's body this morning," Kirara answered with enthusiasm.

"Sorry about that. The situation was highly critical, so they didn't have time to give you any notice," the doctor answered apologetically.

"That's ok. We're just glad it looks like he's going to survive."

"Good. Ah, here's the nurse now. She'll take care of arranging all the details," he finished, gesturing to a middle-aged woman who had walked in as they finished.

"Who's going to be watching the boy?" the nurse asked gruffly.

"I will," Kirara answered.

"Anyone else?"

Shino glanced nervously at Kirara. "I suppose I will, but not until later."

"Fine. You can both follow me, and I'll train you at the same time," She turned to Kanbei and Shichirouji. "You can leave. I'll make sure the girls get taken care of."

They samurai stood there a moment too long.

"I said I got it covered. Go, get some rest, quit cluttering up my waiting room," she said, dismissing them with a wave of her hand. She quickly turned and walked down a hall. "Follow me, girls."

"Yes, ma'am," they answered crisply, following her at once.

As the women turned a corner, Kanbei spoke to Shichirouji. "Well, it looks like we might as well go. Stop by Honoka's house and drop our things off. Kirara's going to be sleeping in late, so I'll make sure I don't schedule anything before 1."

"But…"

"Just go home for the night. It may be the last time we're here for a while, and I wouldn't want to face Yukino's wrath if I kept you here for no good reason."

"Wise man, although, if I were you, I'd be a lot more worried about what Kirara-dono might dream up," he said lightly, ignoring the glare from Kanbei. "Anyway, let's get going."

At that moment, the girls followed the nurse into the room. A tired looking Mizuki looked up at the noise, and, upon recognizing Kirara, smiled, jumped up, and embraced the older girl. "Kirara-san! I'm so glad to see you again!"

Kirara returned the embrace, if with somewhat less enthusiasm. "It's good to see you, too, Mizuki-chan. How's Heihachi-sama doing?"

"Well, he seems a little better. Last night was really tough, and nee-san was so exhausted after watching him she said she nearly collapsed on the way home. You really need to ask someone else, though. Oh, and who's that with you?"

"Shino-chan. She's an old friend of mine from Kanna. Shino-chan, this is Mizuki-chan. She's one of the girls we rescued from the capital with Sanae-san. We'll be staying with her and her sister Honoka-san while we're here."

"Enough," the nurse interrupted. "You girls can talk all you want later. Right now, I'm going to show you how to take care of both of the patients. Now, if you'll just step over here, I'll start by showing you how to use this unit."

The explanation went on for about 20 minutes. Neither of the girls had any difficulty understanding what she was explaining, but the nurse had them demonstrate each point to prove it. "You'll do, I suppose. I imagine you'll get hungry sometime while you're here. To get to the cafeteria, go out of the room, turn right, go until the hall Ts, turn right again, and it's just ahead. The food isn't very good, but it's nutritious. Anyway, it's the end of my shift, so you can ask Irusuka-san who works the next shift if you have any questions," she turned and left.

Just as she left, Honoka walked in---and stopped. "Kirara-dono? What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Honoka-san," Kirara answered. "Katsuhirou-sama breathed some poison gas when he was scouting the wreckage of the capital this morning, and we barely go him here in time. They say that if he survives the night, he should make a full recovery. At least for now, we'll be helping you and Mizuki-chan watch them. Kanbei-sama and Shichirouji-sama came as well. I hope you don't mind if we stay at your house for a few days."

"That should be fine. We can really use the help. By the way, who is this with you?"

"Shino-chan. She's an old friend of mine from Kanna."

Shino bowed lightly toward the sisters. They looked similar, but the older one had different hair and a harder look about her. "I'm glad to meet you. Thank you so much for allowing us to stay at your house. I hope we won't be an inconvenience."

Honoka replied first. "Pleased to meet you as well."

"Nee-san, Kirara-dono says she'll be staying here with you tonight. Should I show Shino-san the way to our place?" Mizuki asked.

"Yes, do that. Shino-san, go with Mizuki. She'll show you where our house is, and where you can sleep for the night. I'll come and wake you and Mizuki up when it's time for you to come."

"Let's go, Shino-san. I'll show you the easy way to get to our place," Mizuki said enthusiastically.

Mizuki led the way. After waiting until she was clearly out of earshot, she asked, "Shino-san, is Kirara-dono doing better?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she looked kinda discouraged when they left to take on the capital. I was hoping she'd be in a better mood by now," the younger girl responded.

"I don't know. I didn't have a chance to talk to her before we set out for here, and we spent the whole trip keeping Katsuhiro-sama awake. Why, what was she upset about?" Shino responded.

"I'm not quite sure. The whole situation with Sanae-san and Rikichi-san upset her, but I don't think that was the biggest thing. I didn't see it, but there must have been some disagreement between Katsuhirou-sama and Kanbei-sama. Anyway, what I did see was Katsuhirou-sama running out of the Firefly with Kirara-san chasing after him. Not too long later, she came back alone, looking pretty discouraged. Yukino-san must have thought something like that was going to happen because she was waiting for Kirara-san when she arrived. I didn't hear what she said, but Yukino-san tried to cheer her up," Mizuki paused. "I don't think it worked, though, because we had to leave right away."

"She chased after Katsuhirou-sama?"

"Yea. Everyone could tell he had a big crush on her, but I think she just didn't want to notice. I never did understand why she'd chase him, though. After all, I think she's interested in Kanbei-sama. She definitely wasn't interested in Katsuhirou-sama. There must be something going on I don't know about."

Shino took a moment to think. If what Mizuki said was true, things were making a lot more sense. Still, it would be nice to get Kirara to answer a few questions. "Well, if you're right, that would explain a few things. Kirara is rather private, so she usually doesn't share much with me even if there is time. Still, even though they were pointedly ignoring each other, I saw Kirara-chan and Kanbei-sama stealing glances at each other the entire way here. I think she feels somewhat responsible for Katsuhirou-sama since she recruited him when he was completely inexperienced and innocent of battle."

"Interesting," Mizuki said. She opened the door to show Shino in. "Anyway, we're here. The samurai should have put your things in here somewhere."

Shino walked in and saw her pack in a corner. "Do you think I could use your fire pit to cook something? We didn't have time to stop today, and we're rather hungry."

"Oh, sure, go right ahead. In fact, let me go check. Nee-san usually leaves some for me, and there should be enough for us all," Mizuki said, turning toward the cooking area.

Shino followed. As intuitive as Mizuki was with people, she seemed as unskilled in the kitchen. "Mind if I take a look at that?" Shino asked.

"Sure," Mizuki answered, readily handing the spoon over.

"I think I'll just make a couple minor additions. Are there some bowls to serve it in?"

"Uhhhh. Ah, here they are," Mizuki answered, handing them to Shino.

"Shino-san, can you make sure Kirara-dono comes back as soon as you take over? I'm planning on scheduling a meeting with the Shikimoribito for about 1pm, and she'll need to be there," Kanbei asked.

"I can try, but she looked pretty set on staying there when I left a little bit ago. If Katsuhirou-sama's condition has improved, though, I should be able to talk her into it. What are you negotiating, anyway?"

"The fuel cells will need to be removed and hauled off. The ones that are in good condition shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the damaged ones could cause serious problems if they aren't attended to soon. Especially since it sounds like the main engine compartment is relatively undamaged, you should end up with a substantial payment even after clean up costs are included."

"Is this just a preliminary agreement? Won't it be hard to figure out everything without knowing more?"

"Yes, this is just the initial bargaining phase. I'm sure the final settlement won't be reached until after the work is complete."

"I thought so. I expect dad will help with the negotiations once you reach Kanna. He'll probably wring every possible yen out of them if I know him. I doubt I'd be any help here since I don't know anything about fuel cells."

"He's a good trader?"

"Definitely. He's way better than anyone else in Kanna, and many of the other farmers already have him trade their rice for them. In fact, with the nobuseri out of the way, he may even expand to neighboring villages. He could probably make a very good living at it if he wanted to move to Kougakyo and do it full time."

Kanbei looked surprised. "You really think he's that good?"

"Of course. He is rather cowardly and isn't a particularly good farmer, but he makes up for it with his trading."

"I'll keep that in mind. I doubt he knows much about fuel cells and the like, but it is always good to work with someone skilled."

Shino cleaned up as they finished. "I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight."

In the hospital, the two young women watched their respective charges and, somewhat surprisingly since there was nothing else to do, talked very little.

Toward the end of her shift, Irusuka-san checked in on the samurai and their watchers. Honoka was watching Heihachi as she had. It looked like she was starting to soften, though: she radiated little of the hostility toward him she had even a day earlier. She looked just as stubborn as she had, though. The other girl looked exhausted, but she didn't appear ready to quit any time soon. She knocked softly. "Hi. I'm just going to check the samurai over before my shift ends. Honoka-san, do you mind if I check Heihachi first?"

"Go right ahead," she said as she looked up.

The nurse checked him. "He seems to be doing a lot better. Would you agree?"

"Yes, he seems to be resting much more comfortably now."

Irusuka nodded to herself. Whatever Honoka had against this particular samurai, it certainly wasn't going to last if she kept caring for him. "Good. We shouldn't need to check on him more than about once an hour unless something comes up. Now, I'm going to take a look at our other patient," she said, turning toward Katsuhirou. "Hi, I'm Irusuka, the head night shift nurse."

"Hi. I'm Kirara. I'm from Kanna. I'm pleased to meet you."

The girl hadn't identified herself as anything other than someone from Kanna, but the way she carried herself argued that she was more than that. She shrugged mentally; that wasn't her concern at the moment. "Good to meet you Kirara-san. I'm just going to check a few things here," she replied, turning to look at Katsuhirou. The check only took a couple minutes. "It looks like he's going to be fine. He checks out just as the doctor noted he should. He'll probably be sleeping normally for another day while his body starts to recover, though. Ladies, it looks like both your patients are doing well. I'm sure the doctor will be by to make a more thorough check sometime this morning. Unless something changes, you'll only need on person to watch them both."

"Thank you," Kirara said, answering for them both.

"Well, I'll be going then. Have a good day," Irusuka said, leaving.

Honoka spoke. "Do you mind if I go get Shino-san to replace us? I'd like to let Mizuki sleep a while longer since she's pretty tired from the last couple days."

"No, go ahead. I'll stay until Shino-san gets here."

Shino woke up to someone shaking her. "Shino-san, wake up," the voice said. It was dark, so it couldn't be time to get up yet. She tried to roll over. "Shino-san, wake up," the voice repeated more firmly with more vigorous shaking.

"Huh?" she said dumbly as she started to wake up. She opened her eyes in dim light to see a young woman with light-colored hair rousing her: Honoka.

"Shino-san, you need to get up so you can go relieve Kirara-dono," Honoka said.

She was about to say it was still dark when she realized she was in the caves. Cursed caves, anyway! She hadn't even been here a day, and she already hated them. "Oh," she responded rather dumbly. She definitely wasn't fully awake yet.

"I'll go get you a little something to eat. The wash pan's over in the corner. The restroom is just in back of the house."

Shino just nodded and slowly moved to get up. Honoka moved to the kitchen to prepare something simple.

"How are they doing," Shino asked as she ate.

"Irusuka-san said Katsuhirou-sama is doing well. He'll probably sleep another day before he wakes up, though. The other one seems to be doing better than he had been."

Shino noticed the difference in the way she mentioned the samurai. Clearly, there was something about Heihachi-sama she didn't like, but it wasn't obvious what it was. "That's great! Is there going to be much to do there most of the time?"

"No, it'll probably be very boring."

"Do you think it would be ok if I took my knitting supplies along and worked on it? I'm way behind on a few new pair of tabi for my family."

"That sounds good. You won't have anything else to do most of the time, anyway. Do you remember how to get there?"

"Yes. Mizuki-chan showed me last night."

"Have a good day."

"You, too. I hope you sleep well."

Notes

I was thinking of going further with this, but I wanted to get this chapter posted before Christmas. The next chapter should have somewhat more exciting things happening.

Tabi: socks you wear with sandals.


End file.
